Pair were just 'Valentine's Day role-playing' as nine police cars hunt down woman seen naked and bound in car

Nine US police cars took part in a search for a woman reportedly seen naked and bound in a car ... before being told it was just "Valentine's Day role-playing".

Officers in Portland, Oregon, received a call about 12.30pm on Tuesday, February 14, after a person saw a blue Subaru Legacy leaving a market "with a naked female tied up in the back with duct tape over her mouth", the police report said.

One of the officers who responded to the call, Sergeant Halliburton, said it was the "weirdest thing in my 24 years".

The couple had stopped at several stores with Ms Pelzner in the back as they were "going after the shock effect", he told the Oregonian.

Sergeant Halliburton, who also does stand-up comedy, said: "If I could use this act in my routine I would."

He added: "I try to be respectful."

But a Portland Police Bureau spokesman did not see the lighter side of the situation, pointing out that the duo "created a pretty substantial public alarm".

"Why would the officers think it was a Valentine's Day thing?" he told the Los Angeles Times.

"This kind of stuff, whether it's being naked in the back of a car tied up, or running down the street with an airsoft gun pretending to shoot at people, it's not OK, because it creates a lot of concern from the public."

The couple were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in the second degree.